Hello everyone! Here is Chapter Four of the story - the plot is picking up now, so I'm hoping you'll begin to feel the suspense!
Chapter Four: The Disappearance
The next morning, well before the sun had even peeked out over the horizon, both brothers woke suddenly. Eyes wide, they slowly turned to face each other. Had they heard something? Did they both imagine it? Alastair thought he had heard a voice – not Mr. Lumley’s though. It was a deep voice –deep, but soft. James had thought it was an animal, large and angry growling outside the door.
Neither moved. Neither even breathed. They lay as still as they could, listening. After a moment, their waiting was rewarded. Another noise came. It was a scratching noise, like the sound of a dull pencil writing furiously on a piece of paper. The boys again looked at each other, this time with confused looks. “Do you think it’s Mr. Lumley?” whispered James, as softly as he could.
“No,” replied Alastair, “that was not his voice and why would he be writing at this hour in the morning? Let’s go investigate.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” inquired James, feeling a trifle afraid.
“Of course James,” replied Alastair, though he was a little afraid himself, “I’m sure it was nothing, and besides I’ll protect you.”
The scratching noise had stopped and more silence came – a thick and deafening silence that did nothing to alleviate their fear. Very slowly, so as not to shake the creaky old bed, the boys stood up – first Alastair, then James. They shuffled to the door, hand in hand, trying without success to avoid the floor boards which squeaked the loudest. Gently turning the handle, Alastair opened the door and peaked out. The room was empty. Neither Mr. Lumley nor anyone else could be seen. “Wait here. I’ll go see what’s up,” Alastair whispered to his brother, who stared back with a worried look on his face and a quivering bottom lip.
“No,” he said at last, “I’m going too.” He shuffled up close to his older brother – a hero in the young boy’s eyes and the two walked out into the living room.
After a thorough search of the flat and the shop downstairs producing no result, the boys made their way into the kitchen to make some toast to satisfy their growling tummies and think about what could have happened to Mr. Lumley. “You would think he would have left a note!” remarked Alastair.
“Perhaps he did leave one and we didn’t see it. Where do you think he would put a note?”
They checked on top of the fireplace, on the coffee table, and on the kettle, but couldn’t find anything of significance.
When Lumley still had not returned an hour later, the boys got very worried. “Should we telephone the police?” asked James, as he strode toward the telephone on the wall above the desk. Reaching for the telephone, he froze suddenly. A small piece of paper had caught his eye from beneath the desk. “Al! Look what I’ve found!” he cried, clapping his hands in excitement.
“A note!” cried Alastair, “Oh, a note!”
“Read it out loud, Al, read it!”
The note was written very quickly and the shaky hand writing was difficult to decipher. It read:
Dear Alastair and James,
Please do not worry about me. I’m quite alright, but I seem to have gotten into a bit of trouble and I need you two to help me. You remember the story I told you last night – well it was not fiction. It was real. And I was there. You may find this difficult to believe, but I need you to trust me. There is a book – an ancient book with strange and mystical power. Whenever it is opened, the reader is physically transported into the story – into the middle ages. You are taken to the village of Chinley in the year 1132 A.D. Here is what I need you to do. Ogden would do anything to get his hands on the book and its power. Not only can the one who holds it be transported forward and back in time, but by reciting a certain text from the book, the reader can be carried to other various places in their own time period. Ogden must have found a way to get here without the book – there are other books with this power, to a lesser degree – but if he held the power of this book, he could very easily launch a surprise attack on the King’s castle. You boys must get to the castle and warn the King. I fear Ogden will be able to discover the whereabouts of the book. I can hear him talking in the shop downstairs, and if he finds me, he may take me back with him to try to get me to tell him where I’ve hidden the book.
What I am about to tell you, you must not tell anyone else. Once you have read this, you must rip up this note. I have hidden the book downstairs, in the bookshop. First, find the non-fiction section. The book is top shelf under the ‘M’s’. The shelf has a false back that you can remove to find the book standing flat against the wall. You will be transported the moment you open it, so make sure to get into your most comfortable and warm clothes first. Bring with you a jacket each. Also, you must each bring a bag filled with food, water pouches, extra socks, a blanket, and a torch if you can find one. Also, in order to find the castle bring a compass. From where you arrive - in a cave deep within a forest –walk due west. I will leave whatever signs I can for you, but I do not know where Ogden will take me. Be careful, boys, and beware of anyone, man or woman wearing a ring in the shape of a dragons head, for all followers of Ogden wear...
The not trailed off mid-sentence. The brothers stared at each other in fearful wonder. The boys did not have to discuss their course of action. One look and they both ran, as fast as their legs would carry them to the non-fiction section. James found the letter ‘M’ while Alastair pulled a chair up to the shelf. By standing on the chair, on the very tips of his toes, Alastair could reach the shelf. Quickly, he moved the books away and struggled to lug the heavy piece of wood that made up the false back of the shelf down onto the floor. At first he couldn’t see anything on the shelf, for the sun had still not risen and the room was still filled with the dark of night. “Get me a torch from the cupboard in our bedside table, quickly!” ordered Alastair to his brother, who dashed up the stairs.
When he returned with the torch, he handed it promptly to his older brother who shone it deep into the dark shelf. In the back corner, standing on end was a large book. He grabbed the ancient book and placed it gently on the counter behind him. The book was brown and unimpressive but for a symbol in gold print on the center. The gold leaf was in the shape of a circle with a cross through it. The intersection of the cross was at the center of the circle and the phrase “Ge-leafa” was inscribed across the horizontal of the cross. “I wonder what that means,” pondered James, “It certainly is a curious symbol.”
“It looks like Old English script,” commented Alastair.
The sun was now barely visible behind the hills and the silhouettes of many sheep could be seen grazing peacefully in distant meadows. Not wanting any of the townsfolk to catch a glimpse of the book, James pulled the dusty curtains together.
